Dead Sea Scrolls myths unfurled

Two of the world’s preeminent scholars will lecture at a March 1 and 2 symposium.

Tracey Curry

Dead Sea Scrolls scholars, wanting to separate Hollywood movie fiction from fact, are holding a symposium at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Palmyra Stake Center.

“One of the things that most Dead Sea scholars realize is that we have an obligation to get out what the Dead Sea Scrolls really are,” said Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, chairman of New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. “There is so much misinformation out there. When there is an opportunity to educate a lot of people, you have to do that.”

The roughly 900 ancient scrolls, some just fragments of the books of the Old Testament, were discovered in caves just 15 miles from Jerusalem by a shepherd in 1947. With carbon dating, researchers estimate the works were written between the second century B.C. and first century A.D. How they came to be in the caves is a mystery. Many religious scholars believe that members of the Judaic Essene sect living in the desert city of Qumran, near the shores of the Dead Sea, authored the works.

The leather or papyrus scrolls, wrapped in linen and sealed in clay pots, were hidden in 11 caves before Qumran was destroyed by Roman soldiers around A.D. 70.

Their discovery has generated wonder and controversy in the Judeo-Christian world. That controversy, including scrolls as pop culture icons linked to books like “The DaVinci Code,” “sort of steals the meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for our common religious heritage,” Schiffman said.

Since the time of their discovery scholars and scientists, like those speaking at the March 1-2 symposium, have been translating, studying and preserving the scrolls. Schiffman personally worked on translation of fragment pieces over the years, saying there is “a tremendous feeling of discovery, reading things that have never been read before.”

The scrolls, he said, “are a collection of Jewish text from the pre-Christian era. They are the true pre-history of Christianity. They also give us an opportunity to see how Judaism moved (through) the second and third centuries, which are really important to the history of Judaism.”

The original documents are housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. Facsimiles of the scrolls, painstakingly reproduced to look like genuine leather, are currently on display at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center at 603 Route 21 in Manchester until the end of March.

Joining Schiffman is his long-time friend and colleague Dr. Donald Parry, professor of Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls at Brigham Young University. Parry is also a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Both men have spent more than 20 years dedicated to the preservation, translation and research of the scrolls.

The two will be conducting tours of a traveling exhibit of scroll facsimiles at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center, as well as giving evening lectures on various aspects of the scrolls in the evenings at the Palmyra Stake Center at 2801 Temple Road.

“We are delighted to have these two eminent scientists come to Palmyra,” said Elder Bryan Weston, director of the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center. “I think it will be a very positive experience for people in the area to have these two men lecture on the scrolls and other texts. It will add to our appreciation and to our understanding of these ancient peoples and their records.”

Lectures and tours will be offered Saturday, March 1 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. Visitors are welcome to attend a lecture entitled “The Dead Sea Scrolls: An LDS Perspective” by Parry from 7 to 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, March 2, tours and lectures will be offered from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Schiffman and Parry will lecture together from 7 to 9 p.m. Schiffman offers “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism and Christianity,” while Parry will discuss “Seven Striking Features of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible.” Space is limited to 50 participants in each tour/lecture. Registration at www.cumorahPAC.org/symposium is encouraged, but not required. Admission to all events is free. For more information, call (315) 597-5851.